A Knight's Duty
by Apples Who Dance With Oranges
Summary: Ryland Fletcher awakens on the battlefield all alone after a crushing defeat. Wounded and lost he finds a dying Knight who has been tasked with a mission directly from the King himself, however unable to complete the mission he hands the responsibility to Ryland. Now this young soldier must pose as a Knight and complete the mission, a task that might decide the fate of Kanto.


**Chapter One.**

The heavy winds of the early autumn afternoon swept through the open field, the sun struggling to pierce through the thick collection of clouds that started to form within the blue sky above. However, the few streaks of sunlight that did escape the barrier of clouds shot through the air and lit the grassy open field below. The grassy plain that once housed many small Pokemon and acted as a grazing land for Pokemon with hooves, now was littered with the lifeless bodies of hundreds of young men. Their blood stained the once luscious green grass, dirt was turned over as cavalry troops and their mounts laid side-by-side. The air was silent as the sound of the wounded were gone, injured men on the victorious side were carried away and the cries of the defeated wounded were silenced shortly after the battle was over. Soldiers still grasped their swords in one hand and had their hands resting on their Pokemon companions with the other, both entering the battle together with high moral and leaving the battle towards death.

"Ughhh," A weak moan escaped the lips of a motionless soldier, the young faced twenty-two year old soldier laying among the dead of the defeated army. His skin was lightly tanned and covered in dry blood, some his own and some of his comrades. His eye lids forced themselves open, revealing his light brown eyes that glared up into the sky weakly. His dark chocolate brown hair was slicked back in its usual fashion, but after getting his helmet ripped off it was left in a mess like a Pidgey's nest. The man had attributes of an attractive male which ranged from his charming smile and gentle eyes, but he had been taunted as a child for his slightly larger nose and larger forehead which was only emphasized by his style of slicking his hair back. He wore the blue colors of his standing army and poorly maintained armor of a lowly foot soldier. His brown combat boots were worn out from weeks of marching towards their destination, his tan field trousers stained with dirt and blood, and his dark blue tunic had been torn at and ruined beyond any type of stitching. His armor consisted of dark brown grayish boiled leather, his shin and knee guards were still in rather good shape, his leather chest plate which once had strips of metal across it for extra protection had been torn nearly in half with a large gash across it, and his arm guards while still good had been ripped from his shoulder guards which hung from his chest plate by a few strands.

"I can't feel my chest," The soldier groaned, his hand grasping his chest through the gash in his armor tightly. His face cringing together as he forced himself to sit up, a surge of pain running through his body as he could feel every nerve in his body scream out in horror. Shifting uncomfortably in place his light brown eyes scanned his surroundings, the endless sea of dead bodies wasn't a surprise to him. He had only been a soldier for a short amount of time, but he grew accustomed to the sight of dead bodies, it wasn't something he welcomed but it was a sight he did his best to grow numb too. Wincing once again in pain he slowly began to unbuckle his chest plate, "No point in wearing this anymore."

Struggling to undo the final buckle he finally ripped the leather strap and pulled the chest piece off. Releasing a loud sigh of relief he carefully examined his chest, fear of an unattended wound taking his life after surviving such a battle. A weak grin was displayed on his face upon noticing that the leather armor and metal strips had taken the brute of the attack, the blade just barely piercing the armor and only leaving a blackish blue bruise across his chest. It was uncomfortable and throbbing, but he would survive from it, "I don't think I've ever loved a piece of clothing so much in my life before."

The soldier slowly rose to his feet, pain throbbing through his left leg and suddenly his head. He nearly fell to his knees upon fully erecting his stance, but he fought through the urge to fall back down. Stumbling forward he struggled to avoid the gaze of his lifeless comrades, their empty and soulless eyes all glaring upon him. The soldier shivered as he felt as if their eyes were questioning why he was alive and they weren't. A small sense of guilt had been built up within his gut from all his near death encounters in his past, but this one felt different. This was the first time he had awaken on the field of battle all alone, the first time where he wasn't celebrating victory with his comrades or planning their next counterattack after a defeat under the instructions of their commander. Unlike all those times, he wandered the battle field all alone just hoping he could find any sign of life.

"Is there anyone out there?" He called out weakly, a violent cough following his echoing call as a surge of pain ripped through his chest. His hand clasped his bruised chest as it was obviously the bruising went far deeper than he had expected earlier, his left leg still stung as if someone had stuck him with a hundred needles and his head made the ground below him feel as if it was moving. Regardless of his battered state, he had to continue moving if he wanted to survive. He had to find some sort of life and then from there formulate a plan to return to their lines, for all he knew his army could have been pushed back and now he could be standing in enemy territory. The soldier cupped his hands around his mouth and prepared to call out again, "Is there an-"

"Open your eyes! I'm right down here!" A voice cried out, as the young soldier's eyes darted all across the battlefield until they fell upon a lone body slumped against a supply cart. The supply cart was emptied off all crates and was littered with arrows, the Ponyta that once pulled it had been slayed in battle and the colors that draped over it were blue. The lone survivor was an older man who looked to be in his late fifties, his hair which was once blonde was tainted by old age and his skin had been aged by the years on the battle field. His armor was a much higher class than the young soldier's, he wore chain mail with steel plate armor over it. His armor was scarred from years of battle and the broadsword that rested on the man's lap probably could tell even more stories than most of the dead on the battlefield combined, "Well just don't stand there!"

The young soldier raced down the slight incline in the field, ignoring the bodies he stepped on as his main focus was the armored man. As the soldier got closer he noticed the gaping spear wound the man had in his abandonment, the spear had pierced right through his chain mail and gone clean through his body. The wooden shaft of the spear had been broken, probably by the man himself so he could still maneuver around the battlefield after being wounded. The soldier picked up his speed upon noticing this, but upon reaching the man he was suddenly jumped by a creature from inside of the supply cart. The young nearly fell over as he was now face-to-face with a fierce looking Mightyena. The fierce canine Pokemon flared his teeth at the soldier and it circled back towards the man. The Mightyena wore a leather vest which had multiple pouches on it for carrying and wore a blue bandana signifying its allegiance to the same army. The man chuckled loudly as he rubbed the canine's head, "He's on our side my old friend."

"You're a Knight," The soldier gasped, his eyes spotting the Knighthood Pin attached to his cloak. A signal of a Knight's accomplishments of completing their training and being sworn warriors for their King. It took years of being an apprentice to even be considered to become a Knight and after that you had to prove your worth on the battlefield, many men died in hopes of wearing that pin one day and only a few lived to wear it. The soldier gulped weakly as he realized that a fully recognized Knight had been mortally wounded in battle, while a simple foot soldier like himself had survived.

"Very observant," The Knight groaned in pain, the once vicious Mightyena releasing a weak whimper as he licked the Knight's wound. Shifting in place as he struggled not to allow the wound to open up anymore than it had already, "You got any ale on you?"

"Can't say I do," The soldier admitted, as he reached to his belt and offered a sip from his canteen. The Knight weakly extended his arm and took the canteen, a motion that Mightyena growled at the soldier for taking. The soldier stumbled back weakly as to keep his distance, "Did we loose?"

The Knight smirked at the soldier's question, "I assume from that bruise on your head that you lost consciousness during the battle."

The soldier was slightly surprised to hear he had a bruise on his head, his head been throbbing ever since he woke up but he assumed that it was just from the pain in his chest. Doing his best to look back he did recall everything going black after a certain near death duel with an enemy soldier, the same man who nearly ended his life with a blade to his chest armor. However, the soldier couldn't recall anything more as his memory was still unclear, "Last I remember we had just fended off their first wave of cavalry and then their main ground force advanced on us."

"That's about where it all went to shit," The Knight chuckled, "We had our heads so far up our asses after pushing back their elite cavalry we didn't even notice that they had flanked us."

Silenced filled the air between the two as they both thought back to all the comrades they had lost in this battle. The Knight finally spoke up as he motioned towards his Mightyena to sit down beside him, "What's your name?"

"Ryland Fletcher," The soldier spoke up, "Been in service for about a year now."

The Knight smirked at how young Ryland was, "Well just by looking at you I can tell you saw one hell of a battle!"

Ryland nodded weakly and forced a smile, "I was with the second line of defense. We saw the brunt of the attack from the ground forces after the first line was destroyed by the cavalry."

"Well you're still with the living so you must be a half competent soldier, " The Knight laughed loudly, his hand grasped his stomach as he laughed, "Ser Hodge Rupture and this is my companion Locke."

"Locke?" Ryland asked curiously, examining the Mightyena known as Locke carefully only to be greeted by a death glare. Ryland gulped lowly, it was clear Locke was not fond of the young foot soldier and was obviously worried about his wounded master.

"It's the name of my old mentor," Hodge explained, a proud grin displayed upon his face as he remembered back to his old days as an apprentice, "The old geezer had a Mightyena himself and I remember that blasted hell beast hated my guts. The day he died of sickness that hell beast died just two weeks after him, the two were inseparable. Funny thing is I was tasked with burying the hell beast and I discovered that she had been taking care of a stray Poochyena. The damn pup bit the crap out of me, but finally we grew to like each other."

"Might!" Locke howled happily, his tail wagging as he remembered the day they first met.

"I had always hoped we both could die in battle together," Hodge admitted, "However it looks like I'll have to go ahead of him."

Ryland shifted awkwardly in place, "I'd offer some sort of assistance but I have no field medical knowledge." The reality was Ryland and Hodge both knew he was a dead man, the spear had punctured a hole right through the aging knight and he had been bleeding out for hours now. Ryland may have only been a soldier for a year so far, but after countless skirmishes he grew a talent of identifying who was worth the usage of medical supplies and who simply needed to be consulted in their final hours. Ser Hodge Rupture was one of those men, all Ryland could do for him was listen to his stories until he drew his final breath.

"Don't worry about it lad," Hodge laughed with a hardy cough, "I know a dead man when I see one."

"You can keep the canteen," Ryland offered, but Hodge tossed the leather canteen back to the soldier after taking one more gulp.

"Dying on the field of battle is thirsty work," Hodge chuckled loudly, "I got a favor to ask of you kid."

"Of course, what is it?" Ryland asked, unsure what a dying Knight could ask from a lowly foot soldier. Dropping to one knee he stayed wary of Locke whose eyes were now locked upon the young soldier.

Hodge weakly reached into his side pouch and pulled out a small scroll. Weakly extending his arm out towards Ryland, the young soldier retrieved the scroll from the hands of the dying Knight. Hodge's blood stained finger prints were printed on the outside of the scroll and located on the scroll was the red seal of the King. Ryland could feel his stomach drop upon examining the seal, the only time he had ever seen this seal was when he was working as an aid for his brigade commander and he had received official orders from the King's council. Hodge coughed violently as he began to sit upright, "I had orders to deliver that scroll to Lord Lawrence of House Bryce. However, recent events got me mixed up in this battle on the way to complete my mission and now here I sit with a bloody spear in my gut."

"Ser Hodge," Ryland struggled to find the words, "I'm only a foot soldier. Trained to hold the line and not even qualified to fight as a cavalry soldier, this type of task is of the highest honor given by the King himself. I'm sorry... I truly am, but I can't carry this mission out."

Hodge groaned as he rubbed his eyes restlessly, "I was hoping for a different answer."

"I truly would carry this mission out if it wasn't for the fact that upon delivering this letter I'll probably be executed on the spot," Ryland explained, as it was a known fact that only a Knight tied by honor could directly deliver a message with the King's seal. Anyone else who would complete such a task was usually suspected of being a spy and would be killed on the spot. Ryland watched as Hodge slowly began to remove his Knighthood pin from his cloak, allowing the blood stained green cloak to fall from his shoulders to the ground, "What are you doing? I can't take that!"

"Take the bloody pin! I won't be needing it where I'm going!" Hodge ordered, shoving the pin into Ryland's hand and nearly shoving his aside while doing so. Hodge annoyingly glared at the ground as he realized he had just given away the pin that symbolized all his life's work, "Showing up to the Lord's doorstep with just a pin won't fool anyone that you're a Knight. You must play the part and play it right, on your journey to deliver that scroll you must stop at Celadon Hold. Find a man by the name of Kirk Blackburn, he's an old friend of mine and the last person you can trust while carrying this mission out."

"What will he do for me?" Ryland asked curiously, unsure what the mysterious man from Celadon could do for him.

"You ask to many questions for a lad who has just became a Knight," Hodge laughed loudly, "Kirk will make sure you don't loose your head upon delivering that message to Lord Lawrence Bryce. Kirk Blackburn saved my life more times that I can count and I've done the same for him, he's like a brother to me."

Ryland forced a nod, "If you trust him that much, so will I."

"Lastly I have one final request," Hodge whispered weakly, the reality of his blood lost now taking its toll. His eyes now weak and his voice becoming soft he slowly raised his right hand and placed it on top of Locke's head, "Without a master a Knight's companion will suffer and follow his master's path soon after. Locke still has a few years left in him and he'll be of good service to you on your mission. Take Locke with you and keep an eye on him, in return he'll make sure you don't get yourself killed on your journey."

"Might! Mightyena!" Locke whimpered loudly, the Pokemon sensing that his master's time was coming up.

"I will," Ryland stated forcefully, his heart sinking even lower upon realizing that now he had to travel with a beast that would surly rip his jugular out if he looked at him the wrong way. Ryland released one loud sighed before asking one last question, "Why do you trust me so much? Is it because you have no one else left to-"

Hodge was already dead. The elderly Knight had passed away on a battlefield he should had never been on, with a spear that wasn't meant for him stuck in his gut, talking to a soldier he should have never met, and leaving his duty to someone else. Ryland stood before the dead Knight with a pin he should have never taken and a scroll that wasn't meant for him in his hands, confused of his mission and left with still many questions to be asked. Locke whimpered weakly as he licked the dry blood from his dead master's face, his heart twisted at the thought of having to serve a new master so soon. The three silently sat on the empty battlefield as the wind blew through weakly, a sense of fear slowly brewing between the young soldier and his newly acquired Pokemon companion.


End file.
